Page 16 of Princess of Bael

Normally, I would defend myself against the insult. But I rather agreed with him at the moment.

I wasn’t at my strongest. Nowhere near it.

When I’d engaged in the bond with Kayla, I’d known there would be ramifications. I just hadn’t realized how severe those ramifications would be.

Mietek glanced at me, his ebony gaze assessing. He’d clearly picked up on my lack of a response.

“It’ll be good for you,” he finally said after a beat. “Use it to recharge.”

I knew what he meant. UseKaylato recharge.

Oh, I will, I thought, refocusing on the female in question.

Kristina’s kidnapping was a consequence of Kayla’s poor attempt at revenge. She’d done all this because she wanted to kill me.

“Were you even really here to talk about the balance?” I asked her. “Or was that your way of making small talk before the Tracker arrived?”

It would make sense for them to work together. She created chaos, gave Alastor a piece of the Divinity, obtained the blade, and killed me. An easy plan. Strategic, too.

“Excuse me?” Her expression and voice suggested I’d offended her. But considering that we were in this present mess because of her selfishness, I wasn’t about to apologize.

“I believe that’s our cue,” Azrael said.

“Yep,” Johanna agreed, her fingers leaving my shirt. I hadn’t even realized she was still touching me, but given the way Kayla glared at her, she’d certainly noticed.

Hmm, is that a hint of jealousy I detect?I wondered, slightly entertained by the notion. It implied Kayla still didn’t fully understand our bond. Because if she did, she’d know I couldn’t seek physical comfort from anyone except her.

Hence my four-plus decades of forced celibacy.

That hadn’t been nearly as difficult as my weakening energy or the agony of the dreams I experienced every night. I’d never known how much I could want a woman… until Kayla.

But that was entirely not the point.

The little hellion had come here with the intent to trade a piece of the Divinity for a blade to kill me. Fine. I could almost respect the strategy behind that. But her selfish plan had ended in Kristina’s disappearance.

Because she’d created a damn tear in the veil.

Something humans could have seen.

The mundane immaturity of it all floored me.

Was she that blinded by revenge that she couldn’t respect the bigger picture? Our fucking existence was at stake, and all she cared about was spilling my blood?

I wanted to throttle her all over again.

Something Mietek and the others clearly picked up on because they grabbed Johanna with a “We’ll be in touch” and disappeared as a collective unit. Dariel and Raziel left with them, not saying a single word throughout the exchange. But the judgment in their gazes had spoken volumes.

However, I couldn’t focus on their condemnation now.

Not with the feisty demon princess staring me down a mere block away from where we’d first met.

Only this time, she wasn’t the meek little Halfling I’d easily manipulated before.

But a woman with a millennia-old need for vengeance.

And a full grasp on her demonic abilities.

All right, little mate,I thought, narrowing my gaze as she crouched into a fighting stance.Let’s dance.